Written Answers Monday 15 November 2010

Scottish Executive

Children

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to increase and standardise the school clothing grant available across Scotland to parents on low incomes, given that a qualifying child currently receives £47 in Glasgow, £50 in Edinburgh, £55 in Aberdeen and £65 elsewhere in Scotland.

Keith Brown: A short life working group was established in 2008 to undertake a review of both free school meal and school clothing grant provision across Scotland. The working group comprised a partnership involving the Scottish Government, COSLA and the third sector. The group produced a final report which is being considered by ministers.

  Issues such as level and standardisation of school clothing grants will form part of this deliberation.

Education

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what work it has undertaken since 2003 to promote recognition of the wider achievement of pupils in addition to their academic attainment.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government and its partners have been taking forward work on recognising achievement as an integral part of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). In order to explore the issues involved with recognising achievement at a local level, the Scottish Government, in partnership with Learning and Teaching Scotland and local authorities, set up 12 collaborative enquiry projects which took place in schools across Scotland during 2008-09. An evaluation of these projects was commissioned from Edinburgh University which was published on 26 February 2010 and is available on the Scottish Government website.

  In 2009 a sub-group of the CfE Management Board was convened to lead the development of guidance on recognising achievement, profiling and reporting. The guidance is expected to be published on-line in December 2010, with paper copies distributed to schools early in 2011.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications were received for an educational maintenance allowance in the academic year 2009-10 in (a) South Ayrshire and (b) East Ayrshire.

Keith Brown: This information is not held centrally. Local authorities are responsible for administering the Education Maintenance Allowance programme. South and East Ayrshire Councils may hold this information.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has saved by changing the qualification criteria for the Education Maintenance Allowance.

Keith Brown: Education Maintenance Allowance statistics for academic year 2009-10, when the changes to the programme were introduced, will be published on 1 December 2010.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people were refused an Education Maintenance Allowance in South Lanarkshire for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

Keith Brown: This information is not held centrally. South Lanarkshire Council is responsible for administering the Education Maintenance Allowance programme and may hold this information.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for Educational Maintenance Allowance were refused in (a) East and (b) South Ayrshire for (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11.

Keith Brown: This information is not held centrally, but may be held by East and South Ayrshire Councils who administer the Education Maintenance Allowance programme.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of changing the qualification criteria for Educational Maintenance Allowance on pupils in the former coalfield areas.

Keith Brown: No such assessment has been made. Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available throughout Scotland and is not geographically targeted. EMA Is a means tested allowance based on household income. This is the fairest way to ensure we are targeting our most vulnerable young people from the lowest income families.

Employment

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to work-based mentoring schemes for teenagers.

Keith Brown: This government is committed to raising the employability and skills of young people. Through the provision of tailored work-based opportunities, where the mentoring dimension is usually a key component, national training programmes such as Get Ready for Work perform a vital role in that regard and have been shown to have a positive impact on young people’s employability skills and their ability to sustain positive destinations.

Health

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) electrocardiogram and (b) echocardiogram machines are in operation in the NHS, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is included in the following table:

  

NHS Board
Number Of Electrocardiogram Machines
Number Of Echocardiogram Machines


Ayrshire and Arran
169
10


Borders
12*
2


Dumfries and Galloway
35*
3


Fife
27*
3


Forth Valley
62
5


Grampian
165*
15


Greater Glasgow and Clyde
330
42


Highland
305
8


Lanarkshire
106
8


Lothian
173
14


Orkney
59
1


Shetland
40
1


Tayside
220
12


Western isles
25
2


National Waiting Times Centre Board
22
11


Total
1,750
137



  Note:* Excludes equipment held in GP surgeries.

  Source: NHS boards.

Higher and Further Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it has done to support efforts to attract more international students to higher and further education institutions.

Mr Michael Russell: The Scottish Government has funded a number of initiatives to highlight the international excellence of Scottish education and to attract international students. These include scholarship programmes, media campaigns and institutional partnerships.

  Further details of this work can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/Intllifelonglearnstrategy.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many regulated tenancies determined by the private rented housing panel in 2009-10 had a rent fixed lower than that established by the local rent officer.

Alex Neil: There were five regulated tenancies in 2009-10 determined by the private rented housing panel which had a rent fixed lower than that established by the local rent officer.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many regulated tenancies determined by the private rented housing panel in 2009-10 had a rent fixed higher than that established by the local rent officer.

Alex Neil: There were 13 regulated tenancies in 2009-10 determined by the private rented housing panel which had a rent fixed higher than that established by the local rent officer.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many tenants submitted appeals for lower rents to the private rented housing panel in 2009-10, broken down by local authority.

Alex Neil: The number of tenants who submitted appeals to the private rented housing panel in 2009-10 broken down by local authority is:

  Aberdeenshire: 1

  Dumfries and Galloway: 1

  City of Edinburgh: 5

  Glasgow City: 16

  Highland: 1

  Moray: 1

  West Dunbartonshire: 1

  Total: 26

Mental Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provides funding to the Samaritans’ telephone helpline.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not provide funding to the Samaritans for its telephone helpline and has never done so previously.

NHS Finance

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what NHS capital projects have been approved at outline business case stage, broken down by NHS board and the notional value of each project.

Nicola Sturgeon: The projects approved to outline business case stage but which have yet to reach full business case stage are as follows:

  

NHS Board
Project
Capital Value £ million


NHS Grampian 
Modernisation of Primary Health and Community Care Services in Forres
12.2


NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Modernisation and Redesign in Alexandria
20.8


NHS Highland
Day Surgery Centre at Raigmore Hospital
13.9


NHS Lothian
Reprovision of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children
148.0

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many places were provided to new entrants to the trainee doctor programmes in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of places provided to new entrants to the Foundation Training programmes in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10 has remained at approximately 800.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist myasthenia gravis nurses there are and where they are located.

Nicola Sturgeon: There is currently one specialist myasthenia gravis nurse post in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which is funded by the Myasthenia Gravis Association on a two year fixed-term contract. There are also 11 neuroscience/neurology specialist nurses, three in NHS Lothian, three in NHS Tayside and five in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

  It is for NHS boards to determine their workforce requirements, including specialist nurses, based on the clinical needs of the population and service developments in their area. The role of clinical nurse specialists must be seen in the context of a multi-professional team, that includes medical staff and allied health professionals, in caring for those with specific conditions such as myasthenia gravis.

National Health Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the publication of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation’s report on the impact of the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula on remote and rural areas of Scotland, what further work will be carried out to ensure the fairness of funding methods in rural areas.

Nicola Sturgeon: A decision on the future work of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (TAGRA) on the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula is due to be made at TAGRA’s next meeting on 30 November 2010. As the NRAC formula is designed to inform funding across all areas of Scotland, all aspects of TAGRA’s work have the potential to impact on rural areas. Decisions on the formula will continue to be made with regard to TAGRA’s core criteria, to ensure that funding of services in rural areas, and elsewhere in Scotland, continues to be fair and appropriate.

National Health Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the publication of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation’s report on the impact of the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula on remote and rural areas of Scotland, when it expects the recommendations contained in the report to be implemented.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (TAGRA) will consider its work plan for 2011-12 at its next meeting on 30 November 2010, and this will include the recommendations of the report. It would be wrong to prejudge the outcome of this decision. However, I have asked TAGRA to prioritise the recommendation relating to GP out-of-hours services, to begin early in the coming financial year.

National Health Service

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on what research evidence NHS Lothian bases its proposal to reduce homeopathy services.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

  NHS boards in Scotland are responsible for providing NHS services in accordance with national and local priorities and in line with the health needs of the population. The planning and provision of NHS services is a matter for NHS boards. NHS boards are expected to take account of relevant evidence based advice and guidance in the delivery of NHS services. The treatment of individual patients is a matter of professional judgement.

National Health Service

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards provide homeopathy services.

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost to the NHS is of providing homeopathy services, also broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

  NHS boards in Scotland are responsible for providing NHS services in accordance with national and local priorities and in line with the health needs of the population. The planning and provision of NHS services is a matter for NHS boards.

Young Offenders

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the potential for work-based mentoring schemes to reduce youth offending.

Keith Brown: Work-based mentoring schemes can assist in addressing offending by young people by providing an early and effective intervention that can reduce the need for involvement in formal systems, and encourage young offenders to participation in society.